Saturday, March 19, 2011

Report on the 12th March 2011 Japanese Textiles: Then and Now talk

Our guest speaker was
Lynn Hewitt who is a past President & long time member of the
Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc. Lynn has been visiting Japan since 2002, when she and Jane
Gibson were invited by the city of Nagoya to represent Sydney and the Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc at the International Quilt Fair. Since that first visit Lynn
has been back 5 times, including twice as the tour leader for quilting
tours. Apart from her own visits, Lynn's original interest began
through her daughter, who learned Japanese and went there on a school
exchange - thus beginning a series of return visits firstly by school
children and then followed later by adults, a number of whom have become good
friends with Lynn and her husband Ted.

Lynn began her talk
with a PowerPoint presentation showing a map of Japan to highlight
the various areas where textiles are produced. As she progressed
through the talk, Lynn described the different textile types and
their production. She also explained the origin of the Kamon
crest which we are so used to seeing in quilts today and how Sashiko
was used to patch and mend garments. (A fireman’s outfit was made
of many layers stitched together and when needed was doused with
water to protect him from the fires).

After discussing design
elements of Japanese textiles and how, for instance, different plants
symbolise the different seasons ( Spring - plum and cherry blossom,
Summer- iris & a flowing stream, Autumn-chrysanthemum and
Winter - bamboo leaves), Lynn went on to tell us about Yuzen dyeing. She explained how it is done, how it can take up to 4 months for the design to
be transferred, and the different elements painted - hence the high
price to be paid for many of the beautiful Kimonos we see (that is
unless you are lucky to get to a second hand market or a quilt show,
where a number of people from the audience later told us they has
picked them up for a song). Lynn then spoke
about how the indigo dye was produced and how some cloths are dyed up
to 150 times to get the pattern and colour desired. She showed us
examples of the different Shibori dyeing techniques as well as
some images of amazing quilts made using indigo fabrics

After her very
informative talk Lynn showed many examples of the textiles she had
described earlier. She then went on to show some of the quilts she
has made using her Japanese fabric. Some of it was most unusual, one
piece purported to be woven banana leaf, but she couldn’t actually
confirm this as her Japanese didn't stretch that far. But it was an
interesting piece to see!

Following Lynn’s talk
and her showcase there was a great ‘Show and Tell’ from the
audience ranging from amazing fabrics picked up in the backstreets,
kimono and yukata garments, and of course lovely quilts made from Japanese
fabrics.

Calendar of Events

11 November 2017. Talk for QSG of NSW by Linda Butcher on Coverlets. Starts 2pm at The Glover Cottages, 124 Kent Street, Sydney.

About the Quilt Study Group of Australia

The aim of the Quilt Study Group of Australia is to promote interest and research into quilting in Australia. Members are committed to the study of quilts past and present - this study encompassing the social and historical context in which quilts were made. Every two or three years, the QSGA runs a seminar. Funding for hosting the seminar is available by applying to the committee of the QSGA.